Christmas is coming soon and so I decided to tell you how we celebrate christmas in my home country, Austria. Some things are quite similar but there are many things we have in Austria which you don't have here.
First of all, christmas in Austria is much more traditional. In December we go to church every weekend and for the day of St.-Nicolas we always visit my relatives and sing old traditional christmas songs. We eat duck and "Lebkuchen" which are traditional Austrian cookies and I really love them but just if my aunt makes them because when you just buy them in the supermarket they are often too dry and taste boring.
In the weeks before christmas we also have many little christmas markets where you can buy little selfmade things for christmas, like little figures of wood, christmas cribs, candels and decoration for the christmas tree. Traditionally when we go there we eat "gebrannte mandeln" ( grilled almonds), sweet chestnuts and we drink "Punsch" ( a kind of tea mixed with juice for the kids and alcohol for the adults) and "gluehwein" ( glowing wine).
The real reason why all the Austrians love these markets is not just because of the things you can buy or because of the food but also to put us in the mood for christmas. It is just very nice to go there with your friends and family, look around and afterwards you are really looking forward to christmas.
Christmas in Austria is also not as commercial as it is here. We don't have so many flashing and blinking decorations and it is more like a celebration for the family. This is for me the real meaning of christmas. Not the presents and the food are important but to remind yourself of the worth of your family and to say thank you for all we have which is also one of the reasons why we go to church that day. The mass is not an old boring event but a celebration to be happy.
So even if I like Quebec a lot I will miss the Austrian christmas a lot because we have many rites in advent and for christmas and we have a real tree with real burning candels on it which makes a big difference.
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